NET GAINS & LOSSES
Mixed bag for still-evolving Brooklyn
WHAT looked like marked improvement over last season’s leagueworst campaign — even despite knee surgeries to both starting guards — has stagnated and gone sideways.
The Nets had to spend their All-Star break stewing over a seven-game losing skid, and bring a 19-40 record into the second half of the season. They’re on pace for 26 wins, just six more than last season and two games worse than Las Vegas’ projections. But they’ll be lucky to do that unless they turn the momentum around.
Jeremy Lin’s season-ending ruptured patellar tendon and D’Angelo Russell’s twomonth knee surgery rehab cost them early, but they’ve dropped 11 of their past dozen after injuries to Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Caris LeVert. Both remain out.
The first-half grades:
SPENCER DINWIDDIE
Dwane Casey called the 24-yearold NBA All-Star Skills Challenge winner the NBA’s biggest bargain. Among the league’s assist leaders (6.7 per game) despite being on a partially guaranteed $1.5 million deal, he’s already turned in 4.7 Win Shares — or played like a player paid 10 times as much.
RONDAE HOLLIS-JEFFERSON
Don’t obsess on what the undersized power forward can’t do, i.e. shoot. His defense, energy and athleticism are invaluable, underscored by the Nets’ 2-11 record when he’s out of the lineup. At 22, he’s their best frontcourt defender, leads them in Player Impact Estimate (12.1 PIE) and is second in Net Rating.
JOE HARRIS
He’s surpassed even the Nets’ hopes, having a career year at 10.5 points per on .398 shooting on 3-pointers. The fact they held on to the free agent-to-be at the trade deadline shows how much they value him — even if he’s set for a huge summer raise from $1.5 million per season.
JARRETT ALLEN
From attacking the rim more aggressively to improving his free-throw shooting to more physical screens, he rapidly improves at any task given. The teenaged rookie has proven both a steal at No. 22 in the draft and a potential long-term building block.
DEMARRE CARROLL
The two years and $30 million on his deal were going to be tough to live up to. But the career year, veteran leadership and first-round pick that came with him have let him do just that.
CARIS LEVERT
He was on his way to a much higher grade, but multiple injuries (groin, knee, concussion) robbed him of both playing time and his earlier form. Can he regain it after the break?
QUINCY ACY
Last season’s hot shooting has regressed to the mean. But with teams still treating him like a shooter, he spreads the floor for others; and watching him take charge after charge, nobody will ever question his toughness.
ALLEN CRABBE
Recency bias aside, would’ve graded out lower if not for going into the break on a hot streak, averaging 25.3 ppg on .429 shooting from 3-point range in his last four games. Still, the Nets likely expected more than 12.5 ppg and .363 from deep when they took on his three years and $56.3 million this summer.
D’ANGELO RUSSELL
Russell was averaging 20.9 ppg and 5.7 assists before knee surgery cost him 32 straight games, but just 10.8 ppg and 3.6 assists since with defensive lapses and costly turnovers. He came on the last two weeks and his development the rest of the season is key.
NIK STAUSKAS
His .416 from deep leads the current qualified Nets; but his offense is inconsistent and his defense lacking. After playing him in only 23-of36 games since acquiring him, the Nets haven’t gotten a bang for their buck, and seem unlikely to give him a $5.1 million qualifying offer.
JAHLIL OKAFOR
A worthwhile gamble, and the Nets have jump-started his career. But he’s shown the same defensive woes and offensive limitations he displayed in Philly. The pending free agent gets 23 more games in a two-man platoon to show his value.
ISAIAH WHITEHEAD
On last season’s injury-riddled team, he finished third in games and fifth in minutes. But this season he’s made just 15 appearances, spending most of his time getting needed development in the G-League.
TIMOFEY MOZGOV
He was never going to live up to the three years and $48 million in his deal, and the purpose of taking it on was to land Russell. But the Nets surely expected more than they’ve gotten. D Mozgov has become persona non grata and logged less than 20 minutes total since Dec. 29.
JEREMY LIN
Make no mistake, his Nets tenure has been a trainwreck and a big reason for their struggles. He played just 36 games last season due to hamstring woes and will play just one this season after rupturing his patellar tendon in the opener.
DANTE CUNNINGHAM
He’s played just three games since arriving at the trade deadline. But the lack of depth at power forward and need for a gritty, physical vet should guarantee him time in the second half.
JAMES WEBB III
With just nine appearances, it’s impossible to judge the wiry two-way player.
MILTON DOYLE
His G-League play made him a 10-day candidate for other teams and earned him a two-way deal, but six games is too soon to gauge him.
KENNY ATKINSON
Still growing as a gameday coach, but has kept his Nets motivated and impressed his peers. Doc Rivers: “I love him as a coach. … His team executes, they play hard, they play together. I don’t think people appreciate how hard that is when your team isn’t winning. … Somehow Kenny’s figured it out.”
SEAN MARKS
He’s reshaped the culture, restocked some draft picks and drafted well. Lin is a disappointment, the Trevor Booker deal for Okafor and Stauskas was a gamble that’s still very much up in the air; but in the end he’ll be judged on big summer moves for Russell and Crabbe, both works in progress.